FBI seeking suspect in connection to Ogden teen who disappeared in Mexico City
Jul 12, 2024, 1:31 PM | Updated: Jul 13, 2024, 9:58 am
The FBI is looking for Antonio Moreno (DOB 6/20/93) in connection with the disappearance of 14-year-old Elizabeth Gonzalez and her cousins, Sofia Mailen Moreno Zamora, 6, and Regina Moreno Zamora, 4. (FBI)
(FBI)
UPDATE — The 14-year-old and her two younger cousins, 6 and 4, were located safely at approximately 9:30 p.m. Friday. The FBI said Mexican authorities located the three girls with the suspect, Antonio Moreno in Veracruz, Mexico.
Moreno was issued a federal arrest warrant on charges including kidnapping. He was awaiting extradition to the U.S. as of Saturday.
“The FBI would like to thank our law enforcement partners in Mexico and the FBI’s Legal Attaché Office in Mexico City for their valuable assistance in this case,” the FBI said.
The original story continues below.
SALT LAKE CITY — The FBI says agents are looking for 31-year-old Antonio Moreno in connection with the disappearance of a 14-year-old from Ogden, who went missing from her grandmother’s Mexico City neighborhood on June 30.
Moreno is the girl’s uncle and the biological father of her two young cousins, 6 and 4 years old, who were also reported missing on the same day.
The FBI says Moreno has lived in Kaysville for the past three years. He abruptly traveled to Mexico City, Mexico, on June 30 and allegedly took the three girls without permission. Alma Delia, the mother of the girl’s cousins who went missing, said he called from Utah the night before the girls went missing.
Delia also said she got a text message from Moreno the morning the girls went missing. She said he wanted to know how his daughters were doing.
After that, he went silent.
Delia is still trying to grasp the implications of Moreno’s involvement in the case.
“Relatives have not seen or heard from them since. We believe the girls are in danger and still in Mexico,” the FBI said in a press release.
The missing girl was visiting her grandmother in Mexico City to learn about her Mexican roots and culture, family members told KSL TV. Surveillance video shows her walking with her two younger cousins, who are Mexican citizens, before getting into a taxi.
The FBI believes she was manipulated by Moreno to get into that taxi and all four are traveling together.
“We don’t have any reason to believe that she is not in the country of Mexico at this moment,” said FBI special agent Steven Hymas, dubbing the matter an “investigation of a missing girl.” “That said, we do believe that there will be people here who know information. Maybe they have reached out to friends or acquaintances or other family members who might know something that can help us out.”
Moreover, Hymas noted the omnipresence of electronic communication in this day and age. Even if someone is kidnapped or goes missing, he said, “If they can communicate with others, they will try.”
The FBI believes all three girls are in danger. They suspect they’re with Antonio somewhere in Mexico.
Anyone with information can reach out to the FBI field office in Salt Lake City at 801-579-1400, other FBI offices or, if abroad, the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate. Tips may be submitted online at tips.fbi.gov.
‘The worst thing’: FBI, Ogden mom seek help in locating teen who went missing in Mexico City
Editor’s note: The names and photos of the missing girls were removed from this story after they were located, due to their age and safety.
